All our community sites offer a free to use business directory. The directories used are the most advanced in the area and offer a range of great features. Below is a guide of how to create your perfect listing.

How to create a successful business directory. 

First things first, you need to become a registered user of your community site. Once this is done, not only will it open up more free features, it will also mean you can edit your business directory entry to keep track with your business, as it changes. 

The Entry

Once you are logged in and you are on the add entry page, you need to start filling in some details. The title is your company name and the rest is fairly self explanatory. Fill in all the details you have until you get to the description. 

The description is the most important part of any entry, if done poorly, it will not be good for your advert and will not drive potential customers your way. You need to make sure you put as much information in this section as possible without making your entry over complicated. If you have a website, you can be more brief, if you do not, you need more detail. The description ox looks complicated but is very simple. It works using the ame sort of techniques as your word processor and not all the buttons on the box will be used. 

This is now what the potential customer will see so make sure you check and double check what you have put here. 

The next boxes are for the pin marker that gets put on the map. The Longitude is the (-) number and the latitude is the (+) number. You can get these by going to http://www.infosports.com/m/map.htm , a easy to use site where you find on the interactive map where your business is, click it’s location and copy and paste the given longitude and latitude. If you do get stuck on this, leave it blank and we will do this for you. This will mean you are placed on the interactive map so people, who are looking for a specific business in a specific area, will find you. It will also enable the use of driving directions to your business.

The logo and Icon are important. The logo will put your brand touch onto the business directory and make it more personal. The Icon appears on the front box and will attract potential customers to your add before they look at others. There are file size restrictions in place on this to speed up load times. If your picture is to large, please reduce the size of the picture and try again. Images should be in Jpeg format.

The meta information boxes are not 100% and will not be that beneficial to you but if you know how to use them correctly, can add a advantage to your advert. Make sure all your keywords are in your description and the description is short, only about 2 sentances at most.

The next section is to choose your categories, make sure you place them in the correct categories, do not place a café into water sports, users will not pick up on your entry and you will not get them viewing your entry. You can choose up to 5 sections to place your listing within and we recommend you choose as many as possible to increase the chances of your potential customer viewing your ad. If you would like a category adding, please ask.

The gallery is also very crucial. It enables the potential customer to see who you, what you look like and what you sell/provide. It is a proven statistic that entries with pictures in the gallery, get more views. 

What happens now you have submitted your entry?

The entry is verified and authenticated by the site administration team. Upon completion of this process, the entry is published. If there are any problems with the entry, the team will contact you and/or correct them.

Now you have your very own business Directory listing. You have put relevant information on the listing, provided the potential customer with enough mouth watering information that they will visit you or contact you. This is the end of the journey for your business directory listing…or is it? No, the listing has a rate and review system built in and if used properly, can help your business stand out leaps and bounds. If you recommend your customers to the site and your entry, get them to rate and review you, the better your reputation gets. An example of this can be seen for Devon Juice Bar. The business directory can be one of the most powerful tools you will ever get your hands on and if only half the features and tools are used, it will mean more customers for you. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.